POLITICS CORNER

[PanBiker]

I thought the Gov had said that it is definitely NOT going to be a royal yacht and will be more like a ship. Begs the question whether they will put guns on it for a bit of diplomacy. Seems to be how the government perceives itself and our now so called reclaimed Sovereign Nation, Rule Britannia, Britannia Rules the Waves.....

If they don't put guns on it, it can go with our Aircraft Carriers that don't have any aeroplanes.

[Tizer]

They're just envious of the oligarchs with their super-yachts. We have HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales and this will be HMY Boris Johnson (unless it gets boarded and hijacked by that well known pirate `Capn Dom Cummings').

[Stanley]

As I said in another topic. a yacht is a hole in the water you throw money into. That could apply to aircraft carriers as well. That's why we can't afford a full complement of planes for it or even a full defensive carrier group.
I think the main political topic at the moment is whether the government dare postpone June 21st....

[plaques]

Why set a date deadline at all? Once at date is mentioned that' it. All this rubbish about of being dependent on data is hot air to be debated and argued over with one bunch of 'experts' claiming one outcome and another bunch the opposite. And we all know the cliché about statistics. Off we go again and don't let your grannie go to football matches, raves or wine bars.

[Big Kev]

Setting a date and then stating being data led was always a mistake. The mere mention of a date will set the media, and the great unwashed, into a frenzy if it doesn't happen. They're already arguing about it.

[Stanley]

Word that Matt Hancock has been forced to go back on a ban he was enforcing on a fiver's worth of vitamins and supplements for children whose parents are barred from any benefits. He only changed his mind when it became clear the courts were going to reverse it. Did it really need to get to that point? Depriving helpless children of vital food?

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report on the vitamins for children.
Yesterday Gavin Williamson put a case that £1.4billion was a lot of money for education catch up and was only one part of a package. Heads later said this was rubbish and wouldn't even touch the sides of what is necessary quoting sums far greater in Germany and the Netherlands. See THIS BBC report saying that the education recovery commissioner for England, Sir Kevan Collins, has resigned in a row over the lack of "credible" Covid catch-up funding. Sir Kevan took on the role as catch-up tsar in February to develop a long-term plan to help pupils make up for lost learning during the pandemic.But on Wednesday he stepped down saying the government's funding for the plan "falls far short of what is needed".
Head teachers labelled the £1.4bn cash over three years as a "damp squib".
The Education Policy Institute had calculated that a catch-up funding recovery would need £13.5bn - and Sir Kevan was reported as having put forward plans costing £15bn.
Reports suggest that earlier this week the larger sum was still being debated but then the Treasury stepped in and slashed the amount of any grant. Rishi thinks it is too much.

[Stanley]

See THIS for more evidence that the government is vert twitchy about the June 21 st promise. They have moved Portugal to the amber list which has upset the Portuguese and the whole of the travel and holiday industry. I hope they stick to their guns and leave a final decision until a week before the relaxation when we will have the latest figures. This is what is upsetting the travel industry and airlines, they need more lead time to get going again. Tough! It would be stupid to throw away our advantage.

[plaques]

Still trying to get my head round recent headlines why more EU red tape in August will lead to higher food prices. Has nobody told them that we left the EU in January 2021 and that ALL the so called EU red tape has been in place ever since. ie: we are a 'third' country therefore exports to the EU have been in place for months so nothing changes in August. Possibly our brave Brexiteers are now realising that all those countries who should be flooding the UK with cheap food have seen an opportunity to raise prices. After all we have just kiboshed our own fishing and farming industries. So increased food prices and possible shortages have nothing to do with EU red tape but all down to Brexit. But don't tell anybody just keep the myth rolling.

[Tripps]

I've heard a few interviews lately with business people trying to keep afloat in very difficult circumstances. They have included the Chief Exec of Jet2 airline, a travel agent called Abbott, and even Michael O'Leary.

My conclusion was that we would be better served if such people were running the country rather than the current crop of politicians. Just a group of very able sincere people, trying their best to survive - not worrying about focus groups, the next promotion, or the expected forthcoming knighthood or peerage, or election.

Michael Gove has been put into quarantine - or would have been if he hadn't been in a trial to avoid it, and have a daily test instead. I wonder if he joined the trial before or after he got the track and trace message.

There I go being naive again. . . .

[Stanley]

David, very strange that the Cummings never attacked his old boss....
Ken, dead right and keep shouting about it. Under the cover of Covid the worst aspects of the no-deal deal are becoming obvious. Most of them down to bad negotiating and settling by the UK .

[plaques]

David, very strange that the Cummings never attacked his old boss....

Yes he did several times. His biggest rant was about 4 hours into the questioning. Cummings was adamant that Johnson wouldn't listen to any border closing plan and as a result kept the borders open far too long. Cummings was not alone in pressing for these measures but after something like 10 days of being told to sod off he gave up realising he was wasting his time. He also said that Johnson would change his mind several times within the day giving the media different briefs which resulted in utter confusion both inside and outside government.

[Tripps]

I think Stanley may have been referring to his previous boss ?

"From 2007 to 2014, he was a special adviser to Michael Gove, including the time that Gove served as Education Secretary, leaving when Gove was made Chief Whip in a cabinet reshuffle. "

Well spotted

[Stanley]

Quite right David. Sorry Ken I should have made myself clear. As far as I can see Gove got off without being attacked....
Relaxation on June 21st is looking more unlikely each day. Trouble brewing there! Trouble already from the Portuguese, the travel industry and the air lines about the downgrading of Portugal to Amber status. For many of these people, summer 2021 is about to be written off.

[plaques]

Sorry Ken I should have made myself clear. As far as I can see Gove got off without being attacked....

No problem Stanley. Never gave Gove a thought. He was mentioned 6 hr 39 mins into the hearing But Cummings comment went along the lines that as in charge of procurement which was build up of numerous self autonomous sections he didn't have a big part to play and therefore could not really be blamed for anything. Question and answer took approximately one minute.

[Stanley]

See THIS for a BBC report on the growing opposition to the cuts Sunak has made to overseas aid. Many fear that this is not a temporary reduction but a permanent cut and perhaps not the last.

[plaques]

Sunak as chancellor holds the purse strings but essentially carries out the instruction as directed if he can. Cuts are always possible, extra spending is a different matter. I don't follow the myth that Johnson cares about people dying. People are expendable especially if they get in the way of profits. No doubt his latest claim to vaccinate the world will come out of the existing overseas budget.

[Stanley]

A bleak assessment but I agree with you Ken. He and Sunak are of the same mind. I see that though Johnson seems to have suppressed the Aid rebels Lindsay Hoyle wants a 'meaningful debate and vote'. See THIS BBC report and assessment.

[Stanley]

See THIS for a BBC report on the ongoing row over the NI border in the Irish Sea (The one that Johnson denied existed). I think that the phrase 'legal purism' means actually sticking to the principles in the protocol that was agreed.

[plaques]

Reminded of Gulliver's Travels, Big-Endians against Little-Endians.
The EU don't allow chilled meats to be imported from non-EU countries. long standing rules which favoured the UK when we were in.
The EU asked if the UK required an implementation period to help out with unforeseen difficulties. No Thanks, Get Brexit Done.
The EU allowed a 3 months grace period on supermarkets to help with paperwork.
Johnson unilaterally imposes a 6 months period. Now shortly to end,
Johnson now wants another 6 month period.
EU says just tell us how much chilled meat is going into NI then we can make a judgement on whether its finding its way into the EU.
Johnson says this means border control paperwork.
EU Yes that's what you agreed to when YOU drew up the protocol.
Johnson. That's legal purism.

[Tizer]

Ben MacIntyre had an interesting article in The Times about Boris Johnson's relationship with religion. It's even more complicated than I'd already heard on TV and radio. He has Muslim, Jewish and Christian ancestors, was baptised a Catholic then confirmed Anglican while at Eton. However, `According to the Catholic Church’s canon law, and despite Mr Johnson’s reception of Church of England confirmation at school, he remained a Catholic as it is not possible to formally defect from the Church'. This had me wondering what the Northern Ireland Protestants make of having a Catholic Prime Minister?

[Tizer]

This was published on the BBC News web site at about 11.15am...
`Government acted unlawfully over firm's £560,000 contract' LINK
`The High Court has found the government acted unlawfully when it gave a contract worth £560,000 to a company run by friends of the prime minister's former chief adviser, Dominic Cummings. Ministers have denied any favouritism was shown towards the market research agency Public First. But the judge decided a failure to consider other firms meant there was "real danger" of bias...'.

[Stanley]

The government acting unlawfully. Is that really any surprise? Think Prorogation, think the sovereignty act they passed with a clause that broke the Treaty protocol. Think Bullingdon Club rules. As they are superior beings the law doesn't apply to them if they don't like it.

[plaques]

If Johnson thinks that President Biden will support him on the Northern Ireland Brexit problem he is very much mistaken. So far Biden has sought to turn the clock back to more stable times with all the Trump type initiatives going down the tube. The general message is 'Get it sorted'. Biden

Senior US embassy diplomats in London, backed by the US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, have directly warned the UK’s Brexit negotiator, Lord Frost, that he will inflame tensions in Northern Ireland if he does not compromise over border checks.

The US has no need to rush into any trade deals with the UK. As our economy slowly sinks below the waves It will be Johnson who will give away anything just to keep it going. Far from flocking to our door the longer the outside countries wait the better deal they will get. So far we have not entered a trade deal that is to our overall advantage.

[Tizer]

Senior US embassy diplomats in London, backed by the US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, have directly warned the UK’s Brexit negotiator, Lord Frost, that he will inflame tensions in Northern Ireland if he does not compromise over border checks.

The phrase Perfidious Albion was never more true than now. This article from the Irish Times in May 2018 is worth reading (and it also has a German phrase for Tripps to add to his list!)...
`Perfidious Albion: an insult or an apt description of Brexit Britain?' Irish Times